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                  <p class="p_Heading1"><span class="f_Heading1">Technical Complexity Factors</span></p>



  
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                <p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Technical Complexity Factors</span><span class="f_BodyText"> are used in the </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Use Case Metrics</span><span class="f_BodyText"> estimation technique. You can add or modify these factors using the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Estimation Factors</span><span class="f_BodyText"> dialog.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">To open this dialog, select the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Settings | Estimation Factors</span><span class="f_BodyText"> menu option. Click on the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Technical Complexity Factors</span><span class="f_BodyText"> tab.</span></p>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="tcf.png" width="477" height="513" border="0" alt="TCF"></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Defined Technical Types</span><span class="f_SubHeadingL1"> </span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">This editable list should contain all factors that could affect the technical complexity of the project environment.</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">These configured factors, whose summed </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Ex Values</span><span class="f_BodyText"> yield the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Unadjusted TCF </span><span class="f_BodyText">value, work together with the </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="ecfdialog.htm">Environment Complexity Factors</a></span><span class="f_BodyText"> to skew the overall complexity up or down, depending on the level of technical complexity and the corresponding level of environmental support.</span></p>
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<td valign="bottom" width="955" bgcolor="#efeff7" style="width:955px; background-color:#efeff7;"><p class="p_TiporNote" style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none;"><span class="f_TiporNote">Note:</span></p>
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<td width="955" bgcolor="#f7f7ff" style="width:955px; background-color:#f7f7ff;"><p class="p_TiporNoteText"><span class="f_TiporNoteText">You can transport the Technical Complexity Factors between models, using the </span><span class="f_TiporNoteText" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="exportrefdata.htm">Export Reference Data</a></span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> and </span><span class="f_TiporNoteText" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="importrefdata.htm">Import Reference Data</a></span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> options on the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Tools</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> menu.</span></p>
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<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Weight</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The TCF </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Weight</span><span class="f_BodyText"> indicates how much technical complexity you assign to a factor. For example, </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">'the system is to be developed in ADA'</span><span class="f_BodyText"> might warrant a higher weight than </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">'the system is to be a shell script'</span><span class="f_BodyText">. A weight evaluates its respective factor, but is irrelevant to a project; the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Value</span><span class="f_BodyText"> field assesses each factor's role within a project. The supplied factors and their associated weights are defined by the </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Use Case Points Method</span><span class="f_BodyText">, although they can be adjusted to suit a project's specific requirements.</span></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Value</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">For most purposes, the only table column requiring adjustment is </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Value</span><span class="f_BodyText">, which indicates the degree of influence a particular factor has on the project. As a suggested gauge, a value of </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">0</span><span class="f_BodyText"> indicates no influence, </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">3</span><span class="f_BodyText"> indicates average influence and </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">5</span><span class="f_BodyText"> indicates strong influence.</span></p>




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